Avery Martin Accountants - Northumberland

07/08/2026

01/08/2026

📢Now open – Capital Grants 2026!🌿👀

Don’t miss out on the standalone Capital Grants that are now available! There is £225 million available to support farmers, land managers and rural businesses in England. Examples of grants you can get include a large wildlife box (such as a Barn Owl nestbox), creating or restoring grassland habitat, standard seed mix for grassland habitat, fencing, earth bank creation and restoration and hedgerow laying. See the grant finder for the full list: Capital grant finder - GOV.UK. The application window will close when the budget has been fully allocated. To date 25% has been allocated so get your applications in soon!💚

More information on eligibility criteria and how to apply here: Applicant's guide: Capital Grants 2026 - GOV.UK

31/07/2026

💷 Turnover and profit are often confused, but they're not the same thing.

Turnover is the total amount of money your business brings in from sales before any costs are deducted.

Profit is what's left after you've paid your business expenses, such as wages, rent, utilities and stock.

For example:

✔️ Turnover = £100,000
✔️ Business expenses = £70,000
✔️ Profit = £30,000

A business can have a high turnover but still struggle financially if expenses are too high. That's why it's important to focus on profit, not just sales figures, when measuring the success of your business.

Need help understanding your business finances? Our team is here to help.

💻 www.averymartin.co.uk | ☎️ 0191 484 1745 | 📥 [email protected]

29/05/2026

Local Business Advice

🌞 Heading into June with a clean set of books? Here's your end-of-month checklist:

📌 All bank accounts reconciled in Xero
📌 Sales invoices sent for May work
📌 Outstanding customers chased (politely but firmly)
📌 Receipts uploaded — Smart Document Capture makes this 30 seconds
📌 Payroll run and submitted to HMRC
📌 VAT bucket checked if you're on quarterly returns

Doing this monthly instead of once a quarter is the single biggest stress-reducer we see in our clients. 💪

Have a brilliant Bank Holiday weekend, North East. ☀️

📞 0191 484 1745
📍 Across the North East

27/05/2026

💡 Xero tip most people miss: bank rules.

If the same payment lands in your account every month — Spotify, your accountant 😉, that one supplier — set up a bank rule once, and Xero codes it correctly forever after.

5 minutes of setup. Hours saved over the year. Cleaner reports. Fewer "what was this £43 again?" moments at month end. ✅
If your Xero is feeling cluttered or your bank reconciliation is a Friday-afternoon dread, that's usually fixable in an afternoon with the right help.

📞 0191 484 1745

25/05/2026

UK Tax Update

🏛️ Big change for family businesses and farms — Inheritance Tax reform is now live.

From 6 April 2026, the 100% rate of Business Property Relief and Agricultural Property Relief is capped at a combined £2.5m per person. Anything above that gets 50% relief — meaning an effective IHT rate of 20%.

For many North East family businesses and farming families, that's a meaningful change to succession plans drawn up years ago. 🚜
If you've not revisited your Will or share structure since this was announced, it's worth a conversation now — well before it ever needs to be.

📞 0191 484 1745
🌐 www.averymartin.co.uk

22/05/2026

Local Business Advice

Reminder for employers — P60s are due by 31 May.
Every employee who was on your payroll on 5 April needs theirs.

Limited company directors who pay themselves a salary count too (yes, even if you're a one-person band).

Late or wrong P60s create hassle for your team and questions from HMRC nobody enjoys answering. 📋

If you run payroll through Xero or another platform, it's usually a couple of clicks. If it isn't — that's probably a sign your payroll setup needs a friendly second pair of eyes.

📞 0191 484 1745

20/05/2026

👀 Have you logged into Xero recently? It looks different.

Xero's new homepage rolled out with widgets that surface what actually needs your attention — overdue invoices, bank feeds waiting to reconcile, key numbers for the week. No more hunting through five menus to find your cash position. ✨

Most people don't realise you can customise it to show only what matters to you. Worth 10 minutes of your day.

If you'd like us to set yours up the way we set ours up, just ask.
📞 0191 484 1745
🌐 www.averymartin.co.uk

18/05/2026

🏡 Landlords — this one's important.
If your rental income (gross, before expenses) was over £50,000 in 2024/25 or 2025/26, you're now in Making Tax Digital for Income Tax.

That means:
📌 Digital records (no more spreadsheets-and-vibes)
📌 Quarterly updates to HMRC
📌 A digital end-of-year return
The £30,000 threshold lands in April 2027. The £20,000 one in April 2028. So even if you're not in scope yet, you will be.
Getting set up properly now is far less painful than scrambling later. Xero Simple was built exactly for this — and we're Xero specialists.

📞 0191 484 1745